Sandstorm Gold Ltd. (NYSE:SAND) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Sandstorm Gold Ltd. (NYSE:SAND) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the five research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $8.81.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on SAND shares. StockNews.com raised Sandstorm Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Sandstorm Gold in a report on Friday, April 4th. HC Wainwright decreased their price target on shares of Sandstorm Gold from $12.00 to $11.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Sandstorm Gold from $6.75 to $7.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Sandstorm Gold from $6.50 to $7.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sandstorm Gold

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Boston Partners lifted its stake in Sandstorm Gold by 39,289.9% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 9,812,015 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,751,000 after purchasing an additional 9,787,105 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Sandstorm Gold by 35.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,522,246 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,394,000 after acquiring an additional 1,691,296 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Sandstorm Gold by 22.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,974,343 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,781,000 after acquiring an additional 913,527 shares during the period. Sprott Inc. boosted its holdings in Sandstorm Gold by 77.9% during the 4th quarter. Sprott Inc. now owns 4,465,843 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,925,000 after acquiring an additional 1,955,916 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi grew its position in Sandstorm Gold by 74.9% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,890,535 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,447,000 after acquiring an additional 1,238,050 shares during the last quarter. 51.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Sandstorm Gold Trading Up 4.0 %

Sandstorm Gold stock opened at $7.90 on Monday. Sandstorm Gold has a 1 year low of $4.92 and a 1 year high of $7.99. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $6.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $6.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 2.29. The stock has a market cap of $2.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 158.11 and a beta of 0.90.

Sandstorm Gold (NYSE:SAND) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04 by ($0.03). Sandstorm Gold had a net margin of 8.11% and a return on equity of 0.98%. The company had revenue of $47.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $67.49 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.04) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Sandstorm Gold will post 0.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sandstorm Gold Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be paid a $0.014 dividend. This represents a $0.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. Sandstorm Gold’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

About Sandstorm Gold

Sandstorm Gold Ltd. operates as a gold royalty company. The company focuses on acquiring royalties and gold and other metals purchase agreements from companies that have advanced stage operating mines. It offers upfront payments for companies to acquire a stream and receives the right to purchase a percentage of a mine's production for the life of the mine.